A Happy Breath

This has to be my last post for 2019. I have blogged without fail every week for more than a year now. I love the discipline that I impose on myself and the weekly schedule is just right for me.

I usually blog on every New Year's Eve, but I'll blog a day earlier this year. I don't want to reflect too much on the year that passed. One thing that I can take pleasure in is the fact that I've fully utilized my time to acquire new skills and to continue exploring different areas of interest. That has always been my sole purpose in life. As long as I'm learning, I am living life to the fullest.

As you grow other, many things do not matter so much anymore. Things that seemed important to you in your younger days now seem like childish pursuits. Perhaps years from now, I will also see what I'm doing now as infantile. That is not such a bad thing for to be able to do so means that I am still growing.

Let me pose myself a 'stupid' question: Of what use is all the knowledge that has been acquired?

What is the use of knowledge that has no relevance to one's career? This presupposes the fact that what's important in life is 'success' in the form of worldly achievements--a high paying job or lucrative business, even fame in one's chosen field. That is 'success'. And having attained that, one dies with a smile on one's lips.

Isn't that the goal of life? No, some may say. The end-goal is 'happiness'. All worldly success brings some measure of happiness--that can't be doubted. How else can one attain happiness?

Let me, just for the fun of it, propose the simplest definition of happiness: To be happy is to be able to breathe well.

Doesn't that set a very low bar for happiness? If it is to be taken seriously, doesn't that mean most people are happy? Very clearly, that's not the case. What kind of definition is this? Surely I can't be serious. Can I?

Let's examine the breath. If one is breathing, one is alive. To breathe is to live. It is the simplest and often overlooked human activity and yet it is the most important. If you can't breathe, you can't be happy. That much is clear.

Now pay attention to the breath. Mindfulness of the breath is one of the simplest forms of meditation. The breath is always there and it is the most obvious sign of life. It is also the best indicator of our state of health. The flow and movement of the breath is latent with information about our internal states. If you know how to 'read' your breath, you will know so much more about yourself.

Doctors are trained to use the stethoscope to listen to your heartbeat and breathing for indications of sickness. You too can observe the breath to know not only your physical state but your mental one too. You don't need an external instrument to do so: you are the instrument. You--your body and your mind can observe the breath and sense its every subtle signal.

Breathe in. Observe every tiny quality of that in-breath. Breathe out and watch the characteristics of its flow. What do you feel? Do you sense anxiety? Boredom? Impatience? With just one breath, you have a sample of your entire universe within. Take another breath--do you feel doubt? Do you not feel a lot of things in this simple activity of observing your breath?

Imagine a loved one in your mind. Observe your breathing. Is there a certain warmth that emanates from within? When you are in a loving mood, doesn't your breath reflect it? Everything distills to the breath. The breath contains the essence of living.

As you breathe, you gain realizations. The world 'inspiration' comes the Latin world inspirare -- to "blow into, breathe upon". The spirit of life is the breath. The literal meaning of the word 'nirvana' is 'blown out' or 'extinguished' -- as in a flame being blown out. The metaphor of the spirit-breath is everywhere. Every inhalation and exhalation is a microcosm of a lifetime. We are reborn again with every in-breath, and dies with every out-breath.

The building block of a life is a single breath. The quality of that breath determines the quality of your life. You are nothing but a summation of your breaths. Hence, to to be happy, you need to breathe well. Breathe with the fullness and totality of your entire being. Your whole life culminates in your present moment of breath. The breath is the karmic fulcrum that takes in the weight of the past and launches the future. By perceiving your breath mindfully, you are able to make the necessary adjustments that aligns your actions to be in harmony with the flow of the universe.

Now, is it too far-fetched then to say that to be happy, one has to breathe well? Breathing well means being able to read every signal that's embedded in that breath and allowing the body-instrument to make the necessary adjustments to optimize it.

So breathe and be grateful that you are able to do so. Be a master of your breath by being mindful of it. For it is in the breath that the secret of happiness lies. You don't have to look far and wide for the key to happiness. It is already there within you. Every breath is a moment of insight. So, from this moment onwards, take a breath.

Take a happy breath.